One thing Michael Hulme will tell you up front, without the slightest hesitation: he has the best job in state government. He may be right.
Hulme is director of marine operations for the state-funded University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), and his major task is to serve as captain of the
Rachel Carson, the institution’s 81-foot research vessel, home-ported in
Solomons, MD.
The
Carson, as she’s known, gets under way several times a week to carry faculty members, graduate students, and scientists from around the world on a wide variety of oceanographic research projects, involving dredging, trawling, coring, water-quality analysis, plankton-sampling, and buoy deployment.
That means Hulme (pronounced hyoom, as in Scottish philosopher David Hume) gets a first-hand look at subjects ranging from biodiversity and invasive species to climate and energy, fisheries and agriculture, and genes and microbes. On a recent trip, he helped scientists map sturgeons’ movements in the Atlantic using underwater acoustic devices.
Best of all, Hulme says, he gets to work with young researchers and graduate students, for whom their stint on the
Carson often is their first exposure to on-the-water research. “The dedication of these researchers—that’s what makes this job unique, and a joy!” he says. “They’re passionate about these things. They want to do things to help the planet.”
Hulme didn’t get to this spot because of his scientific expertise. He worked his way up through the maritime industry. After spending four years in the Coast Guard, he joined the merchant marine as a seaman, serving on a string of big ships, from tankers and freighters to oceangoing tugboats and cruise ships and research vessels—even a huge hopper dredge ship.
Before joining UMCES, he served on research ships operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He spent six years with the Army Corps of Engineers as skipper of a hydrographic survey vessel in Baltimore, where he mapped navigation channels leading to the port.
When the slot for captain of the
Carson was advertised, Hulme applied for the job and got it. Three and a half years ago, he was made director of marine operations in charge of the Carson and as manager of UMCES’s small fleet of research vessels.
“The
Carson is the most amazing boat on the Bay,” Hulme says. “I don’t know whether I could ever go back to another vessel.” (The
Rachel Carson was named for the world-renowned marine biologist and nature writer who wrote
Silent Spring, the book that helped spearhead today’s environmental movement.)
By any standards, the
Carson is a unique vessel. Well-proportioned, she has a four-foot, eight-inch draft (good for plying shallower inlets), water-jet propulsion, and a “dynamic-positioning” system that enables her to remain in one spot on a sort of automatic pilot. A similar device keeps Coast Guard buoy-tenders “anchored” alongside buoys.
Hulme spends about 75 days a year under way on the
Carson and the rest of his time planning for research missions, overseeing maintenance and repairs, and provisioning the ship. Some trips last only a few hours, while others involve several 12-hour days at sea with almost no break, including two long trips to Cape Cod for a Johns Hopkins University project.
During 26 cruises last year, the
Carson helped scientists explore methane seeps in the Bay, trawl for menhaden, deploy a sophisticated plankton recorder attached to a blimp kite, and decommission a 48-foot oceanographic tower. Besides UMCES students, she takes teams from several nearby universities and some half-dozen federal and state agencies.
“That’s the joy of my job,” Hulme says.
Being director of marine operations also keeps Hulme busy with administrative work, which he wryly calls “the exception to my claim of having the best job in state government.” His first mate and engineer, Robert Nilsen, takes over as skipper when Hulme is tied up with other duties.
Hulme relishes his off-duty time as well. By his own description, he’s a nautical foodie, sometimes stepping into the
Carson’s galley to “put out a nice meal.” A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Boston (with a bachelor’s in physical geography), he’s also a voracious reader and backgammon player. And he’s an unofficial baseball coach for his 11-year-old son, Nick.
A lifelong sailor, Hulme spends what time he can on one of his collection of small recreational boats, which includes a couple of kayaks, a Banshee-class sailing dingy, and a Carolina skiff. He lives in Lusby, MD—not far from Solomons and the
Rachel Carson.
About the author: Art Pine is a Coast Guard-licensed captain and a longtime powerboater and sailor on the Chesapeake Bay.